Loose-leaf sheet turning device



United States Patent 6 2,794,281 LOOSE-LEAF SHEET TURNING DEVXCE Thaddeus S. Laturski and Stanislaw D. Degorski, Royal Oak, lVliclL, assignors to The Page-O-Matic Co., Macomb County, Mich, a corporation of Michigan Application February 28, 1955, Serial No. 496,88 12 Claims. (CI. 4052) The present invention relates to a loose-leaf sheet turning device and more particularly to a mechanism for automatically turning, in proper sequence, the individual sheets of a folio or volume of music or the like while leaving free the hands of the musician for operation of the instrument which he is playing.

Generally, the present invention provides a mechanism for sequentially releasing for movement a plurality of arms having end portions interleaved between the various pages of the folio or book with which the device is used. Uponrelease, the arms swing through an arcuate path of movement to traverse a total included angle of about 180. The arms are preferably moved by individual springs and a step-by-step release mechanism is utilized to release the arms for sequential movement. The release mechanism preferably takes the form of an electromechanically actuated reciprocating unit which normally holds the sheet-turning arms from movement, but which is moved to release the arms one at a time.

It is, therefore, an important object to the present invention to provide an improved loose-leaf sheet-turning mechanism.

Another important object is the provision of a mechanism, for automatically turning,.in proper sequence, the individual sheets of a folio of music or of a book, or the like.

It is a further important object of the present invention to provide a novel leaf-turning mechanism for a book or the like including a plurality of arms interleaved between the various sheets of the book and normally restrained against movement by a stop mechanism which is advanceable in incremental steps to sequentially release the arms, thereby efiecting the turning of the pages.

Yet another important object of the present invention is the provision of a mechanism for automatically turning the individual sheets constituting a folio or book, the mechanism including an electromechanical actuating element for releasing serially a group of arms interleaved. between the individual pages of the book, the electromechanical element having stop means associated therewith to efiect the individual release of the arms in proper sequence.

Other further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the disclosures of the specification and the accompanying drawings;

On the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view, with parts broken away and in section, of a leaf-turning mechanism of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the mechanism of Figure 1, also with parts broken away and in section;

Figure 3 is a sectional view, with parts shown in elevation, taken along the plane 3--3r of Figure 1; and

Figure 4 is a wiring diagram illustrating the actuating circuit for the embodiment of the inventions, shown in Figures 1-3, inclusive.

As shown on the drawings:

In Figure 1, reference numeral refers generally to ice a leaf-turner of the present invention enclosed within a casing defined by a vertically extending rear wall 11 closing a casing cover comprising abottom wall 12, side walls 13, and a front wall 14. The top wall 15 of the casing is apertured, as in 16, and is surmounted by a smaller casing portion 17 closed by a cover 18 having an open front aperture 19. The lower casing portion. encloses a space 20 which communicates through the aperture 16 with an upper interior space 21. The front wall 14 carries a backing plate 14a for a folio or volume of music or the like which rests upon a forwardly directed support plate 14b. A supporting clip 11a is carried by the rear wall 11 to adapt the casing for mounting upon a music stand or the like.

The top closure member 18 for the upper casing 17 carries on the under surface thereof and suspended therefrom a generally cylindrical inner casing 23 which projects downwardly from the top 18 within the upper casing 17. This inner casing 23 is provided with a plurality of arcuate slots 24, the slots being about in extent and being equally spaced vertically along the extent of the casing. The lower open end of the casing 23 is interiorly threaded, as at 25 to receive therein a threaded plug 26.

The plug 25 retains within the casing a stack of individual, generally cylindrical discs 27. The discs 27 are each provided with a polygonal 'hole 28 (Figure l), the holes 28 preferably being generally triangular in shape and the holes of the discs 27 comprising the stack being inregistry. Each disc is also provided with a recess 28a which registers with one of the slots 24' formed in the interior casing 23. An elongated arm 29 is bottomed in eachof the recesses 28 to projectlaterally therefrom through the adjacent arcuate slot 24, and each arm carries at its outer extremity a sheet metal projection or finger 30 which is adapted to be inserted between the adjacent leaves of a book or folio; The inner ends of the arms 29 are vertically spaced by the stacked discs 27, but the adjacent portions of the arms are upwardly deflected (Figure 3), so that the arm outer ends lie in a common horizontal plane, the arms being spaced rearwardly so that the respective ends thereof canbe entered bet-ween the various folio pages;

. Within the upper casing. 17 there is mounted a fixed, vertically extending post 31 about which. one end of a hairspring 32 is' wound. The spring 32 encircles an. ad-- jaeent disc 27 and has its other end secured to. the corresponding arm 29'. It will be seen that the arm 29 may be: swung in an arcuate path, approximately 180 in extent as determined by the extent of the adjacent slot 24-if. the associated disc 27 is free to move under the influence of its spring 32. An individual spring 32.is provided for each disc 27, one end of each spring being anchored to the vertically extending post-31, and the other end of each spring being secured to thecorresponding arm- 29.

Disposed within and projecting across the interior of the main casing is a generally rectangular plate 34' secured to the sidewalls 13 by suitable means. The member 34 is provided with a depressed centralportion 35' defining a cylindrical recess 36 surrounding a generally circular opening 37 through which projects a cylindrical solenoid core 38. The core 38 is reciprocable through the opening 37 and carries at its lower extremity a circular plate 39 posed between the plate 37 and the outer surface of the bottom wall of the cup or depression 35 is a coiled compression spring 40' which surrounds the solenoid core 38'.

The open topped space 36 defined by the depression35' is. closed by a cover plate 41. similarly apertured, as at 42, to slidably receive the solenoid core 38. In the space. between the cover plate 35 and the walls of the depression 35 is a solenoid winding 43 which, when.

secured to the core permanently. Inter-.

electricallyrenergized, will move the solenoid corev 38 upwardly to its illustrated position against the compression force of the spring 40.

The solenoid core 38 is provided with an elongated, vertically extending stem 44 which terminates in an elongated end portion 45 having a pair of angularly disposed arms 45a which are snugly received withinthe polygonal or triangular apertures 28 in the discs 27. When the end 45 of the solenoid core 38 projects through the registering apertures 28, the discs are restrained against movement by the abutment of the edges of the apertures 28 against the arms 45a, so that the springs 32 cannot pivot the discs to move the arms 29 as heretofore described. V I It will be appreciated that if the spring 40 is allowed to expand to move the solenoid core 38 downwardly, the discs 27 will be allowed to rotate under the influence of their springs 32. i i j A novel stop mechanism is provided to prevent movement of the solenoid core 38 under the influence of the spring 40 and to hold the solenoid in a given position. The stop mechanism includes a plurality of stop surfaces 46 formed on one side of the attenuated portion 44 of the solenoid core 38'. The stop surfaces are preferably directed to one side to receive thereagainst a reciprocable stop finger 47 which is pivotally connected, as at 48, to the movable core 49 of a solenoid assembly 54). The solenoid core 49 carries an abutment plate 51 adjacent the pivot point 48 in serving to confine a compression spring 52 between the plate 51 and the adjacent end of a solenoid winding housing 53 carried by one of the casing sides 13. A solenoid winding 54 is disposed within its housing and, when energized, will withdraw the stop finger or pawl 47 from abutment with the adjacent stop surface 46. The pawl finger 47 rests against an abutment 55 when the pawl is in'its blocking position, as illustrated. It will be appreciated that energization of the winding 54 will retract the pawl 47 to free the solenoid core 38 for downward movement under the influence of the spring 40.

A movement limiting pawl 57 is provided on the other side of the stem 38 for engagement with additional stop surfaces 58 formed on the attenuated portion 44 of the solenoid core 38 on the opposite side thereof from the stop surfaces 46 heretofore described. The element 57 is also formed as a part of a solenoid core which carries at its outer ends 'a plate 58a confining a spring 59 between the plate 58 and. a snap ring60 positioned in the interior of a solenoid winding case 61 carried by. the other side wall 13. A solenoid winding 62 is disposed within the main case 61 and, upon energization of the solenoid, the core 57 isadvanced toward the solenoid core 38, so that an abutment surface 63 on the solenoid core will engage the. stop surfaces 58.of the solenoid core 38. It will be noted that'the surfaces 58 are generally opposite the stop surfaces 46 but are slightly above the corresponding stop surfaces46.

When the pawl 47 is withdrawn by energization of the solenoid winding 54, the spring 40 can expand pulling the solenoid core 38 downwardly. At the same time, the winding62 is energized to push the stop element 57 forwardly, i. e. toward the solenoid core 38. Engagement of the stop surface63 with the adjacent stop surface 58 of the core 38 will limit movement ofrthe core under the influence of the spring 40. If the solenoids 'are now de-energized, the spring 52 will reinsert the pawl 47 into the next higher notch of the core 38 to engage the next stop surface 46. At the same time, the winding 62 is de-energized so that the spring 59 can expand to retract the stop element 57 from engagement with the pawl. 1 ,At this time, the pawl will move downwardly sufficiently to engage the pawl 47 with the next stop surface 46. and the solenoid core will have been depressed sufliciently to retract the L-shaped end 45 from the polygonal open ing 28 of the uppermost disc 27. This will free the disc 27 for pivotal movement under the influence of its spring 32 and the arm 29 will be swung through its arc to turn the page against which the abutment 30 carried by the arm 29 is resting. A subsequent energization of the solenoid windings 54 and 62 will again carry out the same action to release the second of the discs 27. In this manner, successive actuations of the solenoid windings 54 and 62 will occur until the last of the discs has been released.

Energization of the solenoid windings 54 and 62 may be carried out by means of'the circuit illustrated in Figure 4, in which the solenoid windings 54 and 62 are connected in series, as by conductor 65 to one side of the battery 66 and by means of a lead line 67 to one terminal 68 of a push button-type switch 69. The push button 69 bridges the gap between the switch terminals 68 and a second terminal 70 so that the conductor 67 is connected through the switch 68, 69, 70 to the other side of the battery through a lead line 71. The push button 69 is of such construction that a spring 72 urges the closing.

element 69 from the contacts 68 and 70 when the foot is released from the button.

After the lowermost of the discs 27 has been released, the solenoid core 38 must be returned to its upper position at which all of the discs are held against movement. This is the original starting position, which is attained by pushing all of the arms 29 back to their original position, as shown in Figure 3, thus lining up the polygonal apertures 38 with the L-shaped arms 45a of the solenoid core. Next, a manual switch arm 73 is brought into engagement with a lead line 74 connected toone side of the battery 66 and to the winding 43. The other side of the winding is connected to the battery through a lead line 75, so that depression of the manual switch 73 will cause the circuit to energize the winding 43 to raise the solenoid core'38 against the compression of the spring 40, to its raised position at which the L-shaped arms 45 of the attenuation 44 of the core 38 will prevent turning movement of the discs. During this return movement of the solenoid core, the pivot 48 will allow racheting movement of the pivoted pawl 47, thereby accommodating upward movement of the core 38. The leaf-turner is now ready for the next cycle of operation after the arms 29 and their extensions 30 have been placed between the adjacent pages of the folio or book resting on the plate 14b.

It will be understood that the invention is not to be 'ted to the exact construction shown and described, but that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a page-turning mechanism having a plurality of arms adapted to be interleaved between the pages of a folio or the like, the improvements which comprise a plurality of stacked pivotal elements each of which is secured to and movable with one of said arms, each of said elements having a polygonal hole therein and the holes of the individual elements being in registry, an elongated stop member of polygonal cross-section conforming to the shape of said holes and projecting thru the registering holes of said elements to prevent pivotal movement thereof, individual power means for pivotally moving each of said elements and the associated arm, means for moving said stop member axially to remove the same from the holes in said elements, thus freeing said elements for movement by the associated power means, and means for limiting the axial movement of said stop member, so that said arms are individually moved.

2. A page-turning apparatus comprising a first fixed solenoid winding, a first solenoid core movable in one direction upon energization o f-said winding, spring means urging said core-in anopposite direction when said winding is not energized said first core having one extremity of polygonal cross-section. and also having a pluralityof stop surfaces formed thereon, a plurality of actuating discs having polygonal apertures therethru telescopically receiving said one end of said core, an elongated arm secured to each of said discs, respectively, for movement therewith, means exerting a constant rotational force on each of said discs, said core end in the disc aperture preventing consequent disc rotational movement, a second solenoid core movable from a first position engaging the stop surfaces of said first core to prevent movement thereof to a second position releasing said first core, a second solenoid winding energizable to move said second core, a third solenoid core movable into engagement with said first core to limit movement thereof when said first core is released by movement of said second core, a third solenoid winding for moving said third core, and an electrical circuit including the three solenoid windings, a source of electrical energy and a plurality of switches for connecting said windings to said source.

3. In a page-turning mechanism having a plurality of arms adapted to be interleaved between the pages of a folio, a plurality of vertically stacked discs individually pivotal about a common vertical axis and each carrying one of said arms for movement therewith, an individual spring for each disc resiliently urging said discs in a direction to turn the folio pages thru said arms, an elongated stop member engaging each of said discs to prevent movement thereof and movable from engagement with said discs to release the same for movement, means con, stantly urging said stop member from engagement with said discs, and means imparting an intermittent movement to said stop member to efiect limited movement of said stop member so that said arms are sequentially released for movement under theinfiuence of said springs.

4. In a page-turning mechanism having a plurality of arms adapted to be interleaved between the pages of a folio, the improvements which comprise a plurality of individual but identical stacked pivotal discs each of which is secured to and movable with one of said arms, each of said discs having a polygonal hole therein and the holes of the individual discs being in registry, an elongated blocker of polygonal cross-section conforming to the shape of said holes and projecting axially thru the registering holes of said discs to prevent pivotal movement of said arms, individual power means for pivotally moving each of said discs and the associated arm through an arc of about 180 degrees, means for moving said blocker axially to remove the same from the holes in said discs, thus freeing said arms for movement by the associated power means, and stop means intermittently engageable with said blocker for limiting the axial movement of said blocker to increments approximately equal to the axial dimension of one of said discs, so that said arms are individually moved.

5. In a page-turning mechanism having a plurality of arms adapted to be interleaved between the pages of a folio, a plurality of vertically stacked discs individually pivotal about a common vertical axis and each carrying one of said arms for movement therewith, an individual spring for each disc resiliently urging said discs in a direction to turn the folio pages thru said arms, an elongated stop member engaging each of said discs to prevent movement thereof and movable from engagement with said discs to release the same for movement, means constantly urging said stop member from engagement with said discs, and means imparting an intermittent movement to said stop member to effect limited movement of said stop member so that said arms are sequentially released for movement under the influence of said springs, said last named means including staggered notches on opposing sides of said stop member and a pair of oppositely acting pawl elements engaging said notches to accommodate limited movement of said stop member and to prevent further movement thereof, respectively.

e 6, A page-turning apparatus comprising a first'fixed solenoid winding, a first solenoid core movable in one axial direction upon energization of said winding, spring means urging said core in an opposite direction when said winding is deenergized, said core having an end portion of polygonal cross-section and also having a plurality of stop surfaces formed thereon at a medial portion of said core, a plurality of actuating elements having polygonal apertures therethru' telescopically receiving said end portion of said core, an elongated arm secured to each of said elements, respectively, for movement therewith and having a portion enterable between adjacent pages, means exerting a constant rotational force on each of said elements, said core end in the element apertures preventing consequent movement of said arms, an additional solenoid core movable from a first position engaging the stop surfaces of said first core to prevent movement thereof to a second position releasing said first core for movement, a second solenoid winding energizable to move said second core, and an electrical circuit including the solenoid windings, a source of electrical energy' and a plurality of switches for connecting said windings to said source.

7. A page-turning mechanism comprising a plurality of spaced arms each having a terminal portion enterable between adjacent pages of a book or the like, a spring for each arm, respectively, constantly biasing each of said arms: for movement in arcuate path from a first position at which one side of the associated page is visible to a second position at which the other side of said associated page is visible, a unitary abutment means op-- eratively engaging all of said arms to prevent arcuate movement thereof, and a manually actuatable escapement mechanism for moving said abutment means in incremental. movements from operative engagement with each. of. said arms to release said arms sequentially.

8. A page-turning apparatus comprising a first fixed solenoid winding, a first solenoid core movable in one. direction upon energization of said winding, spring means urging said core in an opposite direction upon deenergization of said winding, a plurality of elongated arms journalled at their inner ends for rotational movement and having their outer ends insertable between adjacent pages, means exerting a constant rotational force on each of said arms, said core having one end portion operatively eugagable with said arms and also having a plurality of stop surfaces formed thereon, the engagement of said end portion of said core with said arms preventing consequent arm movement, a second solenoid core movable from a first position engaging the stop surfaces of said first core to prevent movement thereof to a second position releasing said first core, a second solenoid winding energizable to move said second core, a third solenoid core movable into engagement with said first core to limit movement thereof when said first core is released by movement of said second core, a third solenoid winding for moving said third core, and an electrical circuit including the three solenoid windings, a source of electrical energy and a plurality of switches for connecting said windings to said source.

9. In a page-turning mechanism having a plurality of arms adapted to be interleaved between the pages of a folio, a corresponding number of vertically stacked discs individually pivotal about a common vertical axis and each carrying one of said arms for movement therewith, an individual spring for each disc resiliently urging the associated disc in a direction to turn a folio page thru the corresponding arm, an elongated stop member engaging each of said discs to prevent movement thereof and movable vertically from engagement with said discs to release the same for movement, means constantly urging said stop member from engagement with said discs, and means imparting an intermittent vertical movement to said stop member to effect limited movement of said stop member so that said arms are individually and sequentially released for movement under the influence of said springs, said, last named means including spaced notches on opposite sides of said stop member, said notches being spaced apart a distance equal to the vertical dimension of each of said discs and the notches on one side of said stop member being vertically ofiset from the notches on the other side of said stop member, and a pair of oppositely acting pawls engaging said notches to accommodate limited movement of said stop member and to prevent further movement thereof.

10. A page-turning mechanism comprising a plurality of spaced arms each having a terminal portion enterable between adjacent pages of a book or the like, means constantly biasing each of said arms for movement in arcuate path from a first position at which one side of the associated page is visible to a second position at which the other side of said associated page is visible, a single abutment means operatively engaging said arms to prevent arcuate movement thereof, and electromechanical means for moving said abutment means in incremental movements from operative engagement with each of said arms to release said arms sequentially, said electromechanical means including a first solenoid for moving said abutment means, and additional solenoid means intermittently engaging said abutment means to limit the movement thereof.

11, In a page-turning mechanism having a plurality of arms adapted to be interleaved between the pages of a folio, a corresponding number of vertically stacked discs individually pivotal about a common axis, each of said discs having a stop surface and each disc carrying one of said arms for movement therewith, an individual spring for each disc resiliently urging the associated disc in a direction to turn a folio page through the corresponding arm, an elongated stop member having a portion engageable with the stop surface of each of said discs to prevent movement thereof and movable from engagement with said discs, respectively, to release the same for movement, means constantly urging said stop member portions from engagement with said discs, and means equivalent to a dimension of the stop surface of each i of said discs and the notches on one side of said stop member being offset from and intermediate the notches on the other side of said stop member, and a pair of oppositely acting pawl elements alternately removable from and engageable with said notches to accommodate limited movement of said stop member and to prevent further movement thereof, respectively.

12. A page-turning mechanism comprising a plurality of spaced arms each having a terminal portion enterable between adjacent pages of a book or the like, means constantly biasing each of said arms for movement in arcuate path from a first position at Which one side of the associated page is visible to a second position at which the other side of said associated page is visible, a single stop element having abutment portions engageable with said arms to prevent arcuate movement thereof, and electromechanically actuated escapement means for effecting movement of said stop element in incremental movements from operative engagement with each of said arms to release said arms sequentially, said electromechanical means including a spring biasing said abutment portions from engagement with said arms, solenoid-actuated means intermittently engaging said stop element in spaced relation to said abutment portions to limit the movement thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,543,599 Chester June 23, 1925 2,449,462 Erisman Sept. 14, 1948 2,706,352 Clark Apr. 19, 1955 2,707,345 Swank May 3, 1955 

